by Aaron Jaffe ‘21

On November 1, Sherwood wrapped up their regular season against Springbrook, dominating once again, 42-0. The first playoff game for Sherwood football will be at home at 7p.m. on Friday, November 8, against Catonsville. The Comets, out of Baltimore Country, went 5-4 on the season. After jumping out to 4-0 record, Catonsville dropped their final 3 games and 4 of their last 5. Catonsville eclipsed 30 points just twice on the season and only reached double digits once during their 3-game losing streak.

The 7-2 Warriors are a better team both on offense and defense, but no game is going to be overlooked by Sherwood after the disappointing 22-21 overtime loss to Blake in their first home game of the season. Sherwood expects to roll Catonsville, but in the playoffs especially, they are going to have to play the game and execute on the field. “We need to have a lot more focus during practice and need to use Catonsville as a statement game to get us going for Paint Branch,” said junior quarterback Sean Yamada.

As easy as it is to say to deal with one game at a time, a rematch against 8-1 Paint Branch in the second round has to be looming in the players’ minds. Before last week’s 42-0 dismantling of Springbrook, Sherwood went on the road riding a five game-winning streak to face their toughest challenge of the season, Paint Branch. Defense was the storyline of the game, as both teams played a close, low-scoring game heading into the fourth quarter.

The Warriors were able to take a late 17-14 lead with about 6 minutes left. Paint Branch’s offense came alive, driving down the field to take the lead. With the score 21-17 in the waning minutes, the Panthers came up clutch one more time on defense, intercepting Yamada and taking it to the house, sealing the win for Paint Branch, 28-17.

Senior captain and lineman Michael Boyd knows the regular season loss isn’t a full representation of what the Warriors can do. “We can definitely beat Paint Branch, and I think we know that if we play their best we will come out with the W,” said Boyd. “I believe in our guys.”

Sherwood has all the pieces they need to get past the second round. Sherwood needs to take care of business against Catonsville tomorrow to get their shot at revenge against Paint Branch and go on a deep playoff run.